Return To Me
Majoring On The Minors • Sermon • Submitted
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Good morning friends.
Well kids…we did it. We have made it to the last book of the Minor Prophets.
Since the beginning of 2018 we have been digging into the last 12 books of the Old Testament…most of these book are fairly short…which is why they have been dubbed the Minor Prophets, relatively brief in their message compared with the Major Prophets of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel. But these small books have not been short on challenge.
I would encourage you, if you haven’t already walked through them on your own, do so…get on YouVersion and check out the reading plan for the Minor Prophets…each one has a short video that really explains the books well…and they are shorter than the 35 minute treatment they got here each week…but if you are interested at all in those messages, all our messages are video recorded and put on our website and Youtube channel for you to enjoy.
I have thoroughly enjoyed digging into these books as they present a bit of a challenge for a preacher in 2018…how to bridge the gap between the original message and audience to understand what God might be saying to us now.
Some might choose to avoid the more difficult portions of Scripture…sticking to the red letters of Jesus, or the wonderful stories of miracles in the gospels, but I think we need to wrestle with the whole book…and I believe there is a reason that each of these texts have been preserved for us to this day.
The message of Hosea and Jonah will be buried in my heart just a little deeper because we have spent some significant time with them.
That is what I love about this book. It is more than a book. It is alive. It speaks to me right where I am. And my prayer for you is that you would find that to be true as well.
Get into this book. Read it. Let it read you. Pray it. Let it influence your prayers.
All through the minor prophets I have heard the call of God to his people.
Return to me.
In Hosea…a picture of our waywardness in the relationship with Gomer.
God continues to show love to a wayward people…calling them back.
Return, Israel, to the Lord your God. Your sins have been your downfall!
Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to him: “Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips.
In the next book Joel...
“Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.”
Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.
Joel 2:12-
Hosea 14:1:2
Over and over in the book of Amos God says…I did all these things, “yet you have not returned to me.”
And last week in Zechariah we heard the call one more time.
Therefore tell the people: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Return to me,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the Lord Almighty.
Return to me…and I will return to you.
We will that call one last time as we get into the final Minor Prophet Malachi.
You can turn in your Bibles, or on your smart devices to the last book of the Old Testament. Malachi.
I’m not sure how you view the arc of your life, if you see it like a but I love the words of the author to the Hebrews who called us to fix our eyes upon Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.
If you don’t have a Bible and want one…there are paperback copies for you to take on the ledge of the sound booth. Or download Youversion on your tablet or smartphone. Youversion is free…its awesome. It has a ton of translations and reading plans. And each week we have the morning laid out for you under our events tab. You can follow along there.
Alrighty then…let’s one last time spend some time Majoring on the Minors.
I love the picture of my life as a story…one written by God.
In the chronology of the history of Israel, this is also the latest prophet to speak. After this book…it seems as though God is essentially silent (on written record) for about 400 years.
This book of Malachi is the last of the post exilic prophets…like Haggai and Zechariah, the message is for the remnant who have returned to Jerusalem to rebuild…unlike the previous two, who were contemporaries, Malachi is preaching to the people about a 100 years after the return.
And just like other points in Israel’s history, the people have gotten discouraged, wandered away from the faith…they really not so different than we are…are they?
So God has sent a prophet to once again call the people back.
A prophecy: The word of the Lord to Israel through Malachi.
“I have loved you,” says the Lord. “But you ask, ‘How have you loved us?’ “Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob,
Malachi 1:1-2
The word of Yahweh…slow to anger…abounding in love...
I have loved you.
This is his message.
I have loved you.
But the people question the veracity of that statement.
I have loved you… but the people ask…How have you loved us?
Remember these people have been through exile…or their parents have. They have seen hardship. They question whether or not God really loves them.
We’ve been there before haven’t we? When things get tough in our lives? We wonder if God is really for us? Does God love us? If He does, why does He keep letting bad things happen to me? You’ve been there right? No? Just me? Ok.
Anyway the people question the love of Yahweh and God responds by saying…have I not chosen you?
You are the chosen ones…he goes on to describe other nations that will try to rise up and take power, but God will raise Israel above them all. That God is for his people.
But the people have turned their back on him.
“A son honors his father, and a slave his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?” says the Lord Almighty. “It is you priests who show contempt for my name. “But you ask, ‘How have we shown contempt for your name?’
Malachi 1:6
So God’s first bone to pick is with the priests.
They show contempt for the name of God. They do not honor or respect him…as a child would his father.
How have they shown contempt?
“By offering defiled food on my altar. “But you ask, ‘How have we defiled you?’ “By saying that the Lord’s table is contemptible.
They are bringing lame sacrifices before God.
When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice lame or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?” says the Lord Almighty.
“Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord Almighty, “and I will accept no offering from your hands.
“Cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord. For I am a great king,” says the Lord Almighty, “and my name is to be feared among the nations.
Malachi 1:
God is frustrated because the priests have been offering blemished sacrifices and kept the best for themselves. The people have been stingy with their worship, with their offerings, bringing the worst of what they have instead of the best.
“Whatever is left over is good enough for God” is the attitude of the people. It is similar to the message of Haggai…the people have been greedy…working on their panelled houses while the temple lies in in ruin. They have been looking out for number one and giving God whatever is left…if there is anything left.
So God calls the priests out on the carpet.
“And now, you priests, this warning is for you.
“And now, you priests, this warning is for you.
If you do not listen, and if you do not resolve to honor my name,” says the Lord Almighty, “I will send a curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not resolved to honor me.
Malachi 2:1
Malachi 2:1-2
Honor me…or I will not bless…in fact God says he will curse their blessings.
And he gets pretty graphic. God is not happy with this half hearted devotion.
“Because of you I will rebuke your descendants; I will smear on your faces the dung from your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it.
I will smear your faces with dung…and you will be carried off with the waste.
Because God doesn’t care about our lip service and leftovers. #tweet that. #preachersays God doesn’t care about our lip service and leftovers.
This is what he wants.
And you will know that I have sent you this warning so that my covenant with Levi may continue,” says the Lord Almighty.
“My covenant was with him, a covenant of life and peace, and I gave them to him; this called for reverence and he revered me and stood in awe of my name.
True instruction was in his mouth and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many from sin.
“For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, because he is the messenger of the Lord Almighty and people seek instruction from his mouth.
Malachi 2:4-
So his first words are for the priests to return to Him…to honor and revere him like Levi did.
And then he turns his eyes to the people.
The people have returned to Jerusalem, the temple has been rebuilt, but it seems they learned very little from their time in exile. They seem to have forgotten the covenant with God…and that is playing out in their relationship with each other.
Judah has been unfaithful. A detestable thing has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem: Judah has desecrated the sanctuary the Lord loves by marrying women who worship a foreign god.
Malachi 2:11
So their is a spiritual adultery that has taken place, but it is also being played out in their physical relationships. The men have taken foreign wives, and have divorced for no good reason, often with violence.
Another thing you do: You flood the Lord’s altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer looks with favor on your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands.
You ask, “Why?” It is because the Lord is the witness between you and the wife of your youth. You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.
Has not the one God made you? You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.
“The man who hates and divorces his wife,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “does violence to the one he should protect,” says the Lord Almighty. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful.
Malachi 2:13-
God is upset with the people because they have broken covenant…with him and with each other. And he has one more beef with them.
Malachi 3:6-
“I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.
Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty. “But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’
“Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings.
The people have been bringing lame sacrifices…they have neglected to bring their best to God. They have neglected the basic principles of devotion and generosity.
They have robbed God.
So calls them back. Return to me. How?
Devotion. Worship. Obedience.
Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.
Malachi
So let me pause here for a couple seconds. I have heard this passage used to challenge people to tithe…to give ten percent of their income to their local storehouse…the church. And while that is not much of a stretch, it is not the whole story.
Remember who this is written to and the reason for the message. God is calling the people back to himself. Return to me.
And the challenge is for the people to put their money where their mouth is. If you say you love God…your bank statement should have something to say about that. Are you investing in the things that He cares about?
It is about devotion…obedience. It is not about some Old Testament law…it is not really even about the ten percent.
I personally believe in tithing. I believe that as a follower of Jesus…the bare minimum of my devotion requires at least 10% of the money that he has allowed to pass through my fingers. There are some who say it is an Old Testament principle that no longer applies…sure. If you want to make that argument you certainly are entitled to it.
I don’t see Jesus abolishing the tithe. Sure the word doesn’t appear in the NIV in the New Testament, but...
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.
Jesus says you give a tenth…that is literally what tithe means…a tenth. You should have practiced justice, mercy and faithfulness…without neglecting the former. If you want to say it’s Old Testament…that’s fine…the New Testament seems to encourage an even more radical generosity…sell everything you have…pool your resources…make sure there is no one in need in your community. To me 10% is not too much…it is too little. 10% is peanuts when you recognize that it is all God’s to start with.
To me tithing is the baseline for obedience in my finances. It is the training wheels of generosity…it is the starting point of trusting God to be my provider…not my paycheck.
And for those who argue that tithing is not for today, I often wonder where their trust lies. I also wonder how they figure that anything gets done for the kingdom if they aren’t investing.
As crass as it may be…this hour and a half each week is not cheap. If you want kid’s ministry and missions, and a decent message and music…it isn’t free. If you want a space to gather in January…that has lights and heat...
The tithe is the starting point for my trust and generosity. I trust God to meet my needs…and he always does. I can’t explain it…even when we left a steady paycheck to plant the Upper Room…I was making $11 an hour…Brenda was on mat leave with Maddy. We never missed a tithe and we always paid our bills. I have heard story after story of people who have faced challenging financial times but remained faithful in giving and God always showed up…sometimes in miraculous ways.
It is an act of obedience. It is an act of devotion. It is an act of trust. That God is in charge…not my banker. Not my wallet.
It also helps me kill the selfishness that so easily creeps into my life. When I stand at that debit machine and put those numbers in…I can think of all sorts of other things I could spend that money on…but it is not my money. It’s God’s. And there is no way I want to rob God.
Tithing is not a legalism issue for me. It is a trust issue. If you don’t believe in tithing I hope it is because 10% is too little for you to give away…not because 10% is too much to give to God.
Back to Malachi to wrap up.
God promises his blessing if the people will return to him. Throughout the book he hints at the coming Messiah and what it will be like when things get put back to rights.
And the people responded.
Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name.
“On the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty, “they will be my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him.
And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.
Malachi 3:16-
So return to me…and I will return to you.
Conclusion.
Throughout the Minor Prophets we have heard this call: Return to me. Be faithful. Live in the light. Live in the kingdom. I will bless. Return to me.
Will you?
Will you look at the areas in your life where you have been wayward? Where you have not honored God? Where you have perhaps robbed Him?
Are there ways that you have just paid lipservice or given God your leftovers?
Will you return to the LORD?
When we began this journey I said there was one beacon of light that was found throughout the Minor Prophets that we would do well to keep our eyes on. It is found in the name that God uses over and over again, and He reminds his people throughout each of the prophets of who he is.
Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord.
And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,
maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”
Exodus 34:5-6
This compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in love and faithfulness…is calling out to each one of us.
Return to me.
Return to me your heart.
Return to me your passion.
Return to me your will.
Return to me you life.
And I will give you rest. I will bless. I will walk with you. I will be your God.
Return to me and I will return to you.
Let’s pray.